Actually the fusion reactor chamber remains dangerously radiactive for 100 years

Space/Science » in reply to Even a deuterium-tritium fusion reaction produces much less radioactive material than fission

Actually the fusion reactor chamber remains dangerously radiactive for 100 years

SDF — 5/15/2005 1:00:35 PM (archived)

Using ITER as a model: the reactor will last 20 years, the radioactive waste 100 years. This represents a steadily increasing amount of radioactive waste. If each vacuum chamber has a mass of 30,000 tonnes, then this represents 1500 tonnes of waste produced by each reactor over its operational lifetime. This is about 35-times the amount produced annually by a typical commercial fission reactor.

The whole thread (63 posts)

Another vote for nuclear power - Tom Brosz - 5/13/2005 3:52:35 AM
- And some more votes... - Tom Brosz - 5/14/2005 9:17:11 PM
  - so much for the stereotyping here at HZ (n/t) - pwokenyaw - 5/15/2005 3:23:05 AM
- Forget Yucca Mountain: use the former nuke test sites for radioactive waste storage! - Jacob Samorodin - 5/14/2005 3:17:59 PM
- re: advanatge nuclear power - dwh - 5/13/2005 2:54:02 PM
  - Sierra Club - Gary - 5/13/2005 3:41:15 PM
    - I'm not convinced that nuclear fusion will reduce the amount of radioactive waste produced versus conventional fission powerplants - SDF - 5/14/2005 3:04:58 PM
      - Even a deuterium-tritium fusion reaction produces much less radioactive material than fission - Gary - 5/14/2005 4:21:14 PM
        
        Actually the fusion reactor chamber remains dangerously radiactive for 100 years - SDF - 5/15/2005 1:00:35 PM
        
        Don't be stupid... - Adam - 5/15/2005 2:15:42 PM
        
        I'm not being stupid, short-lived vs. long-lived isotopes is a pointless arguement when they are gradually accumulating in larger and larger amounts. (n/t) - SDF - 5/15/2005 3:36:29 PM
      - add: when the oil runs out, nuclear power won't keep your car running - SDF - 5/14/2005 3:19:25 PM
        
        Nuclear power can run your car - SDG - 5/14/2005 4:15:28 PM
        
        Short answer: if you have enough electrical power, you can do pretty much anything. - Tom Brosz - 5/14/2005 6:41:22 PM
        
        Obvious question: How expensive is an electric car now? - SDF - 5/15/2005 3:57:32 PM
        
        Pure electric cars are not economical - Gary - 5/15/2005 4:05:42 PM
        
        Wait for it. - Tom Brosz - 5/15/2005 8:31:39 PM
        
        200 km per charge... - Adam - 5/15/2005 10:06:36 PM
        
        Your warranty - Tom Brosz - 5/16/2005 5:13:27 AM
        
        You nailed it - Gary - 5/16/2005 5:50:06 AM
        
        Hydrocarbons have better uses - Gary - 5/14/2005 11:17:13 PM
        
        Money has better uses. - SDF - 5/15/2005 1:03:52 PM
        
        re: Money has better uses. - SDG - 5/16/2005 2:54:49 PM
        
        People will move and lifestyles will change if oil runs out. - Scott Evil - 5/16/2005 4:11:45 PM
        
        Californian metropolitan areas assume cheap gasoline - Gary - 5/17/2005 3:58:35 PM
        
        Why doesn't some enterprising individual buy up the empty office space - Scott Evil - 5/18/2005 2:09:49 PM
        
        Fossil fuel economics are bogus - Gary - 5/15/2005 3:59:43 PM
        
        So when the new oil runs out.... reminiscent of a pyramid scheme! lol (n/t) - SDF - 5/16/2005 12:35:07 PM
        
        Isn't that what Kyoto Accord was about? Assigning a monetary value to GHG emissions so they could be accounted as an internal business expense? - SDF - 5/16/2005 12:49:59 PM
        
        I hear CO2 credits are going for about $20 a ton in Europe. (n/t) - Tom Brosz - 5/17/2005 4:12:39 AM
    - I had a similair voew toward Greenpeace at one time. - Scott Evil - 5/13/2005 8:32:47 PM
- We must have it... - Scott Evil - 5/13/2005 2:48:43 PM
- I'm not convinced that carbon emissions will lead to global warming - SDF - 5/13/2005 5:24:04 AM
  - Nuclear will still be a good idea, global warming or not. - Tom Brosz - 5/13/2005 6:43:55 AM
    - I'm not convinced that nuclear is a good idea - SDF - 5/13/2005 7:18:46 AM
      - Bio-fuels need to be pushed but the greens hate them because they still emit CO2 - Scott Evil - 5/13/2005 3:00:53 PM
        
        re: Bio-fuels need to be pushed but the greens hate them because they still emit CO2 - Ehhhhhhh - 6/2/2005 3:36:26 PM
        
        Throw away your technology and return to nature! - ljk - 5/13/2005 4:21:59 PM
        
        re: population culling....... - dwh - 5/13/2005 4:19:04 PM
        
        How practical is dumping nuke waste into the Sun? - ljk - 5/13/2005 5:04:10 PM
        
        That's actually a trick question - Gary - 5/14/2005 4:16:22 AM
        
        Bury the waste on the Moon or some other planetary body. - Lee - 5/14/2005 2:40:15 AM
        
        Good Lord, didn't you see Space: 1999?! - LJK - 5/14/2005 10:20:49 PM
        
        If it'll give us eagles, I say we go for it. - Lee - 5/15/2005 2:08:08 AM
        
        Negative factors include... - Larry J - 5/13/2005 6:37:11 PM
        
        You're all working too hard on this. - Tom Brosz - 5/14/2005 5:03:12 AM
        
        It's one job the U.N. could do. - Lee - 5/14/2005 5:31:22 AM
        
        Most sensible environmentalists know the difference. - Tom Brosz - 5/13/2005 3:53:06 PM
        
        Teasing out the oversimplification - pwokenyaw - 5/13/2005 6:17:31 PM
        
        Nuclear subsidy - Gary - 5/14/2005 4:14:38 PM
        
        Gotta disagree about V-1s verses V-2s - Larry J - 5/15/2005 2:32:50 AM
        
        Saturating British defense - Gary - 5/15/2005 4:27:09 PM
        
        I don't know - the British had a lot of anti-aircraft guns on the coasts... - Larry J - 5/16/2005 6:30:39 PM
        
        state of technology determined by government subsidies - pwokenyaw - 5/15/2005 1:23:13 AM
        
        Conservation is important, but it doesn't answer the mail - Larry J - 5/13/2005 6:47:12 PM
        
        can the build windmills that aren't so ugly? - Scott Evil - 5/13/2005 8:25:12 PM
        
        re: windmills?? - dwh - 5/13/2005 8:47:55 PM
        
        re: windmills?? - pwokenyaw - 5/13/2005 10:10:58 PM
        
        Why don't they put more blades and then add a variable transmission so that the blades spin slower, while producing more electricity? - Scott Evil - 5/16/2005 3:33:24 PM
        
        More blades doesn't necessarily mean more energy... - Larry J - 5/17/2005 1:56:43 PM
        
        re: windmills?? Siting issues - p - 5/14/2005 3:49:04 PM
        
        re: windmills?? Siting issues....you bet - dwh - 5/16/2005 7:58:50 PM
        
        Ditto for photovoltaic cells. (n/t) - Scott Evil - 5/13/2005 8:25:56 PM

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